Pumpkin
by Leelan
Summary: A Halloween Challenge Fic. It's Bobby's job to make the jack-o-lanterns. BobbyJean Paul Slash.


Pumpkin

_Whack!_

Bobby scratched his forehead with the wooden end of the hammer. His fingers were covered in moist, slightly sticky orange mush, sprayed off from the small pumpkin he had just released his fury upon. A girl he had once liked had just walked past with her loving beau and the sight had driven him to take out his frustrations upon the closest available outlet.

Considering he'd had a hammer in his hand at the time and that he was surrounded by large orange vegetables, it was spectacularly good timing to let off some steam. The two were out of his sight now, pushing away the remains of the unfortunate pumpkin he kicked another into the line of fire.

Then, discarding his hammer, he took up a large, blunt kitchen knife and gave the top of this much larger pumpkin a few good stabs. When the knife was thoroughly indented in the flesh, he sawed in a circle around the stem. Once cut all the way around he discarded the knife and reclaimed the hammer to wedge the pointy side into the jaggedly cut flesh, ripping the top skin away from the body.

It came off with a sloppy pop and landed in Bobby's already filthy hand.I love Halloween, he thought blissfully. It always helped him release some tension and he had more of that in his life then he liked to think about. Warren and Kurt had put on such funny faces when he enthusiastically volunteered to clean out the pumpkins for Jack-o-lanterns again this year.

They might not have let him if they had known how much satisfaction he would get out of it.

Lord knows anything fun was not allowed for Bobby. No, no, no. He was built to suffer over flighty woman and steal everyones pyjama bottoms on April Fools Day. Anything beyond that would mean they'd have to notice his existance. God forbid they'd ever talk to him just to hear what he had to say. Instead of always having to wait, for his turn to speak.

Flipping the hammer over he looked down into the network of insides that had opened to view. Getting a firm grip, he brought down the hammer on the insides through the hole his knife had created.

_Whack!_

Squishing the complicated patterns that was once the lifesblood of a living plant. He kept hitting until there was nothing but a condensed orange poltice of flesh and seeds. Discarding the hammer once more he reached a hand in the muck and pulled out a large clump of it. He looked at the ruined insides for a moment, studying them the same way a little boy studies a bug he's just squished. He then flops the orange waste of his hand, it falling into the waiting bucket at his side.

For some reason he didn't quite understand, this job always made him think about his love life. Sitting on the back steps of the mansion in the drowsy morning sunlight, surrounded by a half dozen pumpkins in varying sizes, his back cramping a little. He pulled away his hands and lifted them above his head in a tall arch. Then slumped down and wiped his hands on his stained white singlet, before remembering that they were just going to get dirty again. The weather was too chilly to be sitting around in a singlet but it was messy work and it's not like he was able to feel the cold.

Why doesn't anybody like me? I'm just as good as any of the other head cases around here. So what's wrong with me? Moodily he continued scooping till no more mush would come away into his hands, taking up his hammer again he reached into the pumpkins shell to give the parts still clinging to the body a few good whacks. Reaching in, now up to his elbow, Bobby gathered the dregs from the bottom. The smell was really starting to get to him.

"Why anyone would choose to do that, I am not at liberty, even to comprehend."

Rolling his eyes, Bobby resisted the urge to slump face first into the messy hole before him. It was questionable if suffocation would be worse then talking to the person standing behind him.

He'll go away soon. Just chat a bit.

"Coming from someone who I bet has never tried it."

Jean-Paul steps loftily down the steps, gracefully bending to sit next to Bobby, above the nest of pumpkins, which he eyes questionably.

"I see no reason to try."

"It's one of those things that you don't think you'd enjoy, but once you're doing it, it just sorta sucks you in till you're nothing but a big pile of orange muck sitting in the sun. A lot like food fights but I doubt you'd have tried that either. The food's probably afraid to touch you without permission, you neat freak."

Eyes forward and back slouched, Jean-Paul speaks softly into the slightly yellow pumpkin in front of him.

"The opportunity never arose, for either."

Bobby frowned, brow crinkled lightly. He sensed this was one of those times when Jean-Paul was feeling slightly less grumpy and was willing to act sort of human. Bobby didn't know how often this happened, by luck it seemed to happen sometimes while he was around. He felt it was a bit of a waste since he wasn't the greatest person to act human around these days. But hell, after an hour of stress release via pumpkin whackage, he was feeling good and available to talk to someone who had never shown any open hostility towards him. Though he certainly showed hostility towards others.

"Aww, I bet you could have loads of times. You just gotta take the time to

get your hands dirty you know?"

With a sly grin he patted Jean-Paul on the back before remembering his hand was covered in orange slime. His eyes went wide in realization and all his blood seemed to disappear for a minute.

"Er... Oops"

Fear had replaced his missing blood and was rushing through his whole body. He'd gotten Pumpkin innards on Jean-Paul's jacket. The same Jean-Paul who had yelled at Katie Benson till she cried for spilling glue on him while running down the corridor. This was definitely not good. Jean-Paul looked over his shoulder slightly and pulled his jacket across to get a better look.

Then he just sat, for what felt like hours. Bobby was sure he was planning murder. He then took of his jacket, and placed it behind him on the stairs. Rolling up his sleeves he scooted closer and turned to Bobby.

"Hand me that knife."

Even the fear stopped moving as visions of pumpkins filled with his blood flashed through his mind. Then he came back to reality and realized Jean-Paul wanted to help him with the pumpkins. Bobby numbly handed him the knife and Jean-Paul pulled the yellow pumpkin in front of him between his legs and started stabbing silently, eyes slightly glazed. Bobby found himself smiling wildly now that the blood was back.

He watched for a second trying to comprehend what it was he was seeing. Jean-Paul 'jeans-are-for-peasants' Beaubier was willingly, carving up sticky, smelly pumpkins with him. Life sure knew when to give him a kick up the ass and say "Who's boss? Me! That's who! Wait and see what I come up with next!".

Getting back to work they ran through it fairly quickly. When the sun was about half way through the sky they took a break and Bobby handed Jean-Paul one of his pre-hoarded sodas. They lay back against the stairs on there elbows and watched the clouds crawling across the sky. Bobby couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Why the hell are you doing this with me?"

Jean-Paul just blinked his eyes lazily and pushed himself up on his arms. Bending down he reached into the bucket and pulled out a hand full of sweltering pumpkin innards. He then leaned over and smashed it into Bobby's forehead and hair. Bobby screached in shock and pushing Jean-Paul away, scooted over to his own bucket. Grabbing two handfuls he threw them both onto Jean-Paul's chest with thick smacking noises as they connected.

Looking down at himself, Jean-Paul gave such a strange look that Bobby burst out laughing and kept laughing till he was slapping his knees. Then promptly got hit with a sludge ball on the shoulder, causing him to waver slightly, but he was soon back up with more goop in hand.

"Oh, you're dead!"

They continued the pumpkin fight for several minutes till they were both dirty, bright orange and panting. In giggles they leant against each other and cackled with silent laughter. Barely holding each other up they slipped to the stairs in tangles. Calming down slowly, panting between giggles, they calmed and looked tiredly at each others faces. Jean-Paul reached out and pulled a scrap of mush from Bobby's forehead. This almost set them off again but they managed to contain it.

After it was gone, he kept wiping the pumpkin out of the front of Bobby's hair. It felt nice in a way, kind of soothing. Bobby gave a drowsy smile and flicked a piece from the end of Jean-Paul's nose.

"We should do this again some time."

Jean-Paul smiled only once more, and then it was gone. Face going remote, for a second almost sad. Bobby couldn't see why he would be sad, they'd been having such a good time. Did he get some pumpkin in his underwear?

Jean-Paul sat up.

"Let's get back to work."

Grabbing Bobby's arm pulling him up. They got as much pumpkin off themselves as they could and finished there work. After the pumpkin fight, Bobby looked up at Jean-Paul often, who stayed in his remote expression, and hurried along with the work. Almost fast enough to count as using his power. He really must have gotten some pumpkin in his underwear.

Not that he was thinking about Jean-Paul's underwear or anything.

End


End file.
